Surveillance camera searches 36 million faces in a second

You know how the CIA’s surveillance system is second to none according to what Hollywood had served up all this while? I really wonder whether modern day technology used in intelligence agencies are up to par, and can even enhance blurry images to high resolution photos in an instant. Well, one thing is for sure – Hitachi Kokusai Electric has developed a surveillance camera system par excellence, where it is able to go through data on 36 million faces in just a single second. This would mean it can detect a face from surveillance footage or a regular photo in a search, where results will be displayed nearly instantaneously, serving up thumbnail images of potential candidates. Should you pick on a thumbnail, then the associated recorded surveillance footage can be viewed thereafter, allowing you to know what said person was doing beforehand.

This system runs on assumptions to make it as efficient as possible, where it will assume that faces are turning within around 30 degrees in the horizontal and vertical directions from the camera, and they need to be at least 40 x 40 pixels in size. It would be interesting to see just how this system’s performance will be like when it comes to combating crime in crowded areas.